The Zurich Classic is the only team event on the PGA Tour, and it's a unique week. Its format features 80 teams of two playing the best ball and alternate shot round before a cut.
Defending champions Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are massive favorites this week. Marquee pairings include Billy Horschel and Sam Burns, Max Homa and Collin Morikawa, Sungjae Im and Keith Mitchell, and Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim.
Best ball
The Zurich Classic is the only team event on the
PGA Tour, and it's a great opportunity for players to win big money. It features 80 two-man teams that tee off each day in an alternating format of fourball and foursomes.
In the best ball format, each player plays their ball, and the lowest score between the two is used for each hole. This makes it easier for teams to get incredibly low scores, which you'd never see in a regular PGA Tour round.
Teams rely on each other to get the most out of their rounds, so they must be consistent. This is especially true in the first and third rounds when the best ball format is used.
The best ball is a unique format in the Zurich Classic. It's a great way for teams to score well while using their strengths and diminishing weaknesses.
For example, if one teammate is good at putting and another is good at finding greens, it's a great combination for achieving low scores in the best ball format. Similarly, if one teammate is very strong with his tee shots and another is excellent at hitting irons, it's also a great combination.
This format is a great way for teams to use their strengths and diminish their weaknesses, so they need to use it as much as possible. It's also a great way to increase the number of points that your team can earn in the FedExCup playoffs, which can help you qualify for majors and get more Official World Golf Ranking points.
There are 80 teams in the 2023 Zurich Classic, and they're teeing it up at TPC Louisiana this week. They'll play the best ball in the first and third rounds, then switch to foursomes on Saturday and Sunday.
The defending champions, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay are the odds-on favorites to win this year's tournament, but plenty of other top-tier teams could compete for the title. Among those are Californians Max Homa and Collin Morikawa, International teammates Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim, and South Koreans Sungjae Im and Keith Mitchell.
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